NAPLES REAL ESTATE VOICE

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE RATHER FLAT BUT PENDING SALES UP

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 4:43pm. 9 Views, 0 Comments.

Rightfully so, consumer confidence is rather flat and one can certainly attribute that to the fact that there has been no clear cut indication that nationally we are recovering fully from the recession. August statistics showed a 1% point increase which is pretty lackluster.

Despite that fact, pending sales are continually rising month to month which is a good sign. One should also remember that there is no tax incentive for first-time home buyers the way that there was this time last year, so if you look at in that light, things are getting better and better.

Here are the pending sales numbers in key areas:

Crayton Road area: 41
Olde Naples: 16
Pelican Bay: 29
Vanderbilt Beach: 15
Port Royal/Aqualane 4
Royal Harbor/Windstar: 18
Golden Gate Estates: 114
Marco…

OLDE NAPLES CONTINUES TO LEAD THE WAY

Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 7:46am. 48 Views, 0 Comments.

There are many reason why Olde Naples is one of the most desireable areas of Naples, not the least of which it is the only area of Naples where every avenue (running east and west) ends at the public beach. There are many other reasons as well, such as Fifth Avenue and Third Street, where world-class shopping and dining abound.

As the US economy struggles to regain its former stature, Olde Naples and Port Royal continue to do well in the real estate market. To date, there have been 50 closed single-family sales in Olde Naples and some 59 other condominiums and town homes sales totalling 109 units sold year-to-date.

MORTGAGE RATES CONTINUE TO SET RECORDS

Sunday, August 29th, 2010 at 10:53am. 45 Views, 0 Comments.

One wonders how long the mortgage rates will continue to stay low, as last week they again set record lows.

In a recent speech, Fed chairmam Ben Bernanke restated his position that the Fed is prepared for implementing emergency measures should the economy worsen. Mr. Bernanke does not see that happening and stated that the economic recovery is taking longer than anticipated, but we are not at the end of the world. One reason for the slow recovery is that joblessness remains high and that is having a direct effect.

One thing that we are absolutely sure of is that mortgage rates will soon rise. So the time is ripe to either refinance your present mortgage or finance that new purchase assuming that you can meet the industry's rigid qualifications.

BANKRATE CLOSING COST COMPARISON

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 at 7:06am. 58 Views, 0 Comments.

Every year bankrate.com publishes its annual national Closing Rate Comparison study. The way that they gather information for the study is to anonymously solit lenders in each of the largest city of each state to provide them a Good Faith Estimate based upon the identical criteria, a $250,000 primary purchase with a 20% down payment ($250k loan) and excellent credit.

The only fees that are counted are lender origination and other third-party fees. Both doc stamps and title insurance are excluded. One of our senior mortgage consultants from Summitt Home Mortgage at Downing-Frye Realty, Inc., Will Dukes, has reviewed it over the past few years and believes that it is good information.

'The big news is BankRate assertion that closing costs have increased by…

BYE...BYE BUY OWNER

Friday, August 20th, 2010 at 7:19pm. 69 Views, 0 Comments.

With the struggling housing market in other parts of the country, the real estate firm Buy Owner based out of Deerfield Beach, Florida is saying bye bye. Known for its "Thanks, Buy Owner" slogan the firm has filed for liquidation. The firm blames a down market, as well as a large Bank of America loan which requires repayment as the reason for the filing.(Court records show that the company approximately 3.9 million to the bank, as well as 1.2 million in back pay to its executives.)

One might also suspect that their core business is off drastically because sellers are now wise to the fact that they need the services of a real estate professional to get their properties sold, especially in today's economy.

It gives one pause to wonder whether some of the…

UNDERSTANDING CDDs AND THEIR IMPACT

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 at 5:16pm. 58 Views, 0 Comments.

Many times people are wanting to know what a CDD Community or Development is and if they purchase in a CDD community what the ramifications might be.

CDD stands for Community Development District which means that when the project was started, the developer took out a bond to pay for the infrastructure of the community, the roads, sewer, street lights, recreation areas, parks, landscaping and other amenities. CDDs provide the funds to maintain the communities, as well as direct and finance the growth of the community. The re-payment of that bond falls on the shoulders of the residents in the form of a CDD Tax which is paid annually over a pre-determined number of years.

CDD taxes can consist of two forms, a bond portion and a working capital portion. The…

NABOR RELEASES MONTHLY STATISTICS FOR JULY

Saturday, August 14th, 2010 at 10:44am. 71 Views, 0 Comments.

The Naples Area Board of Realtors (NABOR) has released the monthly statistics for the month of July and the message remains upbeat.

Sales on the beach were strong showing a 13% increase and that despite all the prior concerns about the Gulf oil spill. The greater Naples market continues to deplete inventory and the median home price continues to rise showing that the general state of the market continues to get stronger.

To view the report CLICK HERE.

MORTGAGE RATES LOWEST SINCE RECORD KEEPING

Friday, August 13th, 2010 at 7:11pm. 72 Views, 0 Comments.

Mortgage rates are now at the lowest point since Fannie May began tracking them with a 30-year fixed below 4.5%.

The rates have basically been following the stock market trend for the past month, and although the coming week offers no reports that will trigger anything sensational, should the Dow close above 10600 look for rates to go fractionally higher. Of course all bets are off if the Dow closes below 10200.

What is most amazing is the fact that despite the very volitile stock market, the mortgage rates remained almost unchanged from the week prior.

Here are the current rates for today: Conforming $147,000 and below

15-Year Fixed               3.875%            APR           3.954%

30-Year Fixed               4.375%            APR           4.461%

FHA…

HITTING HOME RUNS IN PORT ROYAL

Monday, August 9th, 2010 at 8:34am. 108 Views, 0 Comments.

Port Royal is one of Naples premier locations for exclusive luxury living, with a majority of the homes either on the Gulf of Mexico or wide water canals that lead directly to the Gulf. Many an impressive yacht sits quietly behind the mega-homes on the canals and the only way you would know is if you come in those canals on watercraft through Naples Bay.

Although it is not a gated community, it remains hugely secure sporting its own police force. Just because you own a home in Port Royal does not necessarily meanthat you qualify for membership in the world-renown Port Royal Club, housed on the Gulf of Mexico.

If you look at Port Royal statistically in 2010, Port Royal has been on fire with sales reaching nearly $200,000,000 this year alone. In the first 6…

NAPLES CRIME RATE DIPS FOR 2010

Monday, August 2nd, 2010 at 12:10pm. 143 Views, 0 Comments.

Accoring to a recently released report from the Naples Police Department, crime is down 18% for the first six months of the year, and what makes it even more interesting is he fact that it is in a down economic climate. Normally you would think that the polar opposite would occur, in a poor economy the crime rate would rise. But within the City of Naples, that's certainly not the case.

Two of things that I have always touted about Naples is the low crime rate and modest traffic when compared to the other coast. Especially the traffic because one can tend to take the low crime rate for granted, but not the traffic. When 'high season' rolls arund, you can find yourself beefing about the traffic a bit, but a simple cure is to take a trip to the other side of…